


Operation Eyrie

by holdouttrout



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Multi, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-04
Updated: 2016-01-04
Packaged: 2018-05-11 15:39:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5631931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/holdouttrout/pseuds/holdouttrout
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the year after Emma fails to rescue Hook from the Underworld, Regina and Robin help her put the pieces back together. This is a romantic Regina/Robin/Emma fic. More or less canon compliant through 5A. Assumes that the mission to rescue Hook fails, so he remains dead but there's no additional character death. I named Robin's daughter Claire, and Henry, Roland, and the baby (Claire) are an integral part of this fic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Operation Eyrie

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is a gift for shinewithalltheuntold on tumblr. It's all her fault--we were talking about Swan Queen and Outlaw Queen and wondered if OT3 could work to bridge the difference.

Regina tapped her phone and then hit the button to turn off the display almost immediately. Her frown deepened.

It had been twenty minutes since Regina last texted Emma. Robin knew, because Regina had checked her phone every five since then. He knew what was coming next, too--Regina would check it one more time, get frustrated, send another (angry) text, and then put her phone away for the night while pretending she wasn't thinking about checking her phone every five minutes.

Emma blamed herself for losing Hook, and so far she was attempting to shut herself off from everyone, emerging only to do her duty as Sheriff, disappearing into her house any time she wasn't absolutely needed around. Everyone was worried about Emma--Robin included--but he was also worried about Regina. Regina had been trying to draw Emma out and it was clear her worry was taking a toll on her. 

In any case, they were approaching the last five-minute mark of the evening, and Robin decided something needed to be done.

"Regina," he said, just as Regina reached for her phone again. Regina looked up, surprised to see him there. "Why don't you go get her?"

"What?" Regina said. 

"Emma," Robin said. "You were texting her, right? Telling her to come over? She shouldn't be alone," Robin said, thinking of how he'd felt after Marian's death, how being around people had felt like torture but had been infinitely better than being alone all the time. 

"If I go she just won't answer the door," Regina said, sighing. "You know what happened yesterday." She had gone so far as to take Mary Margaret with her after a long, uncomfortable conversation with Mary Margaret in tears because her daughter wouldn't talk to her--a conversation that ended with them deciding that Emma needed to get out of her house and with Mary Margaret reluctantly agreeing that she should come here because they had more room.

Despite the two women presenting a united front, their trip had been an exercise in futility. There hadn't been any sign of life in the house, and when they attempted to just walk in, they'd found themselves outside on the street.

Robin's resolve strengthened. He'd gotten to know Emma a little better in the Underworld. He wouldn't say they'd hit it off immediately, but he had admired her courage--especially at the end--and he thought maybe she'd grown to respect him, too. "I'll go," he said. 

"You will?" Regina said. 

Robin stood up, crossing to Regina and giving her a kiss. "I'll try," he said.

As he walked to Emma's house, he had time to think about strategy. The direct approach seemed doomed to failure. No, he needed to convince Emma she was needed--and then convince her that it was easier to be needed from somewhere closer at hand.

He reached the house and rang the bell. He waited for a couple of minutes, but heard nothing from inside. He rang the bell again, waited again. The third time, he knocked, several loud raps that he was sure could be heard throughout the house. This time, he heard shuffling footsteps.

He leaned close to the door. "Emma?" he called. He kept his voice loud and said, "I'm not going away until you talk to me."

"Fine," Emma's voice came from behind the door. "I talked to you. Tell her I'm fine."

"Not good enough," Robin said, shaking his head. 

"I could just send you home," Emma said.

"I'll come back as many times as necessary."

Emma was quiet for a minute. "Why?"

Robin rubbed his neck. "Henry's worried about you. Regina's worried about you. I'm worried about them both. And you shouldn't be alone. I know you probably can't stand to be around other people right now, but you shouldn't be here by yourself."

"This is my house," Emma said. "I live here."

"You don't have to," Robin said. He held his breath and waited. 

Emma opened the door.

****

It was a good thing Regina's house was a large one, Robin thought. Regina and Robin shared one room--the master bedroom, Regina had said. Henry had his own room just down the hall, and Roland shared a room with Claire now that she was sleeping through the night. 

Adding Emma to the mix would have been impossible in most of the houses in this town, but Regina still had a guest room with its own bathroom to spare. Somehow, they had convinced Emma to stay through Christmas, and she settled in quietly, seeming wary of interrupting their lives and staying in her room more often than not.

Despite that, Robin could tell that both Henry and Regina were more relaxed just having her in the house--and as Christmas preparations got underway, the house filled with music and laughter as the two of them introduced Robin and Roland to their traditions.

Robin came home one night from patrolling the woods to find them baking and decorating cookies.

"Oh no," Henry said, holding up a perfectly baked sugar cookie shaped like a reindeer. His eyes were wide and innocent as he broke off one of the antlers. "This one's broken."

Roland giggled. Henry gave him a stern look. "This is no laughing matter--someone has to eat this cookie. Right now."

Roland waved a hand. "Me! Me!"

Henry looked to the right and left as if making sure there were no other volunteers before handing over the cookie, which was promptly devoured.

"We can't have any imperfect cookies sneak in," Robin said, leaning against the counter.

"Henry is very good at quality control," Regina said, her fingers covered in flour as she rolled out another batch of dough. She gave Robin a smile. "Henry, find Robin a reject, would you?"

"Sure," Henry said. He broke a piece off a bell-shaped cookie and handed them over.

"Thank you," Robin said, sighing as he took a bite of the cookie--it practically melted in his mouth--and the rest of it followed fast. He saw a pile of true rejects on the counter just on the other side of Regina and almost reached for it, but stopped as Regina shook her head slightly.

He sneaked a slightly misshapen star instead and shifted so he was still facing Regina but could see behind her to where Emma was lurking in the doorway. She was almost smiling, and she was nibbling on a lumpy star of her own. 

Regina smiled.

"Okay, we need to save the rest for the party--time to get to frosting," Regina said. She put the last batch of cookies into the oven and mixed up a large bowl of frosting, dividing it into three smaller bowls--one she turned green and another red, leaving the last white. She took the red bowl and started frosting cookies.

Henry took the other two bowls and gave each cookie a base of frosting, letting Roland decorate them with candies and sprinkles. After a while, Robin took over the frosting station and they worked through the backlog of cookies efficiently. 

Robin noted that the reject pile kept getting a little smaller as they worked, and then Emma took the frosting knife from him and sat down on his other side.

"You're getting too much on the sides," she said. She focused on the frosting and didn't look up to see Henry's grin or the look that Regina and Robin shared.

****

Christmas morning, Roland was the first up--he'd heard enough from Henry about presents and Santa Claus to be too excited to sleep past five in the morning and pounced on Robin, waking him up. (Robin was pretty sure Santa was fictional, but neither Regina nor Henry would give him a straight answer.) Robin managed to snuggle Roland into being quiet until Claire woke up hungry and wailing, so Robin gave Regina a sleepy kiss and took his children downstairs to entertain them until a decent hour in the morning.

Emma was already awake and in the living room. She stood in front of the full stockings, tracing Henry's name on his. She turned as Roland came barreling into the room and looked guilty. 

"Sorry," Robin said. He shrugged at her with Claire in his arms.

"No, I just--" Emma said. "Sorry." She started toward the door. Behind her, Roland was diving for the pile of presents. 

Robin, desperate to head off Roland before he ruined Christmas, said, "Can you take her?" and handed his daughter off to Emma before she could object. By the time he got Roland wrangled with a new coloring book and crayons, Emma had sunk into a chair and was staring into Claire's eyes as she sucked on her bottle.

"Thank you," Robin said, sitting down himself as he watched Roland steal glances at the presents as he colored.

Emma looked up, her eyes a little watery, but she was holding together and Robin decided Claire was probably better off staying where she was instead of having being jostled around while trying to eat her breakfast.

"Did you sleep well?" Robin asked.

Emma nodded. "Fine," she said. She yawned and looked guilty again. "Not enough."

"Do you want some coffee?" Robin said. He didn't like the stuff himself, but he'd tried to learn how to make it for Regina, who needed a cup before breakfast each morning.

"Not if you're making it," Emma said. "No offense."

Robin laughed. "Is it that bad?"

Emma made a face. "Let's just say I'm glad Regina figured out how to set the timer." She looked back down at Claire. "She's so beautiful," she said, softly.

Robin felt a surge of entirely reasonable pride. "She is." He looked at her. "She likes you," he said.

Emma sniffed. "She likes anyone," she said, but she smiled anyway. 

****

Christmas was overwhelming. The quiet of the early morning hadn't lasted long, and then it was a whirlwind of stockings, breakfast, and Christmas dinner preparations. Then, the Charming horde descended on the house and people seemed to fill every corner. There were arguments over which dishes went out when and where people were going to sit and then a few moments of near-silence while everyone dug into their food before conversation started back up.

Regina was in her element. Not that she would ever admit it, but Robin knew she loved having everyone here almost as much as she loved making sarcastic remarks to Mary Margaret and David. She also looked stunning in a velvet dress that made Robin want to pull her aside and kiss her within an inch of her life, but there was no time--after dinner there was dessert and then there were presents, and throughout it all there was off-key singing and laughter and affection showered on any baby in range.

Robin didn't notice when Emma disappeared, but he did notice when Roland did--and he went looking for him just to make sure he was staying out of trouble. He found Roland with his new toys in his room and played with him for a while before deciding to go back downstairs. On the landing, he heard Emma crying, and he took a couple of steps toward her room, unsure what to do. Her door was slightly ajar, and he caught a glance of her lying down, her head in Mary Margaret's lap. 

Mary Margaret saw him, but she didn't say anything to him. She was running her hand through Emma's hair and humming under her breath. 

"It's so hard," Emma said, plaintively.

"I know," Mary Margaret said. 

Robin tilted his head, trying to ask if she needed anything without disturbing them. Mary Margaret shook her head and mouthed a thank you.

Robin backed away and went to rejoin the party.

****

After Christmas, they just didn't bother mentioning that Emma had planned to move out, and New Year's came and went. Henry went back to school, and Roland went to something called pre-school, which he seemed to like a lot judging by how often he came home completely exhausted but still dying to tell Robin about his day.

Regina went back to work full-time, too, and Robin found himself working closely with Emma to develop a long-term plan for managing Storybrooke's wilderness. He saw her start to find her balance again as she engaged with the project, and as she started becoming part of life at home, too--even cracking jokes now and then that made Henry and Regina both roll their eyes. 

There was a rough patch a couple of months in where she and Regina seemed to be at each other's throats all the time. Emma finally brought up leaving, which made the fight escalate to the point where Robin debated taking the kids elsewhere for the night. Finally, Regina yelled, "I don't _want_ you to move out, you idiot!"

Emma had blinked and then said, "Oh." And that was the end of that. 

"I hope that you're okay with her staying," Regina had said later that night, wearing a guilty expression. "I wasn't thinking--"

Robin kissed her. "It's fine," he said.

"I know we haven't talked about it, about how long she's going to be here."

Robin, who had given it a lot of thought, said, "As long as she needs, I think." It surprised him how comfortable it was to have Emma around, but it _was_ a big house. And honestly, with three kids around, it was nice to not be outnumbered.

****

"I'm just saying that this makes no sense!" Emma shouted. Robin stopped just to the side of the open study door, recognizing the sound of magic lessons.

"It's simple," Regina said, obviously trying to be patient but failing miserably. "Magic is about intent, but it's also about _precision_."

"Those are two completely different things!"

"Not in magic!" Robin didn't need to see Regina to picture her at that moment, her fingers pinching her nose, her eyes screwed shut. When she spoke again, her volume had dropped several levels. "Okay, you remember what I told you about potions, right?"

Emma muttered something that Robin didn't catch.

"Very eloquent, dear," Regina said, her sarcasm scathing. "Yes, the amount matters, but the quality affects the amount, and the balance is much more important. That balance carries the intent. It's the same with anything else. You can't just brute force your way through everything." 

"So it's like poofing," Emma said. "You think of where you want to go but also where you are and all the in-between…" her voice trailed off thoughtfully. "And then you go."

Regina sighed. "It's nothing--fine, I guess it's somewhat similar to... _poofing_." Her voice dripped with derision on the last word. Robin stifled a laugh. 

"Let me try," Emma said, decisive. 

Robin backed up a step but nothing happened so far as he could tell. 

"I think it's working--" There was a yelp from Emma, and a snort of laughter from Regina.

"I thought I had it," Emma whined.

"I want a picture of this," Regina declared.

"Oh no you don't--"

A flash went off.

"Regina, delete that."

"No."

"Please."

"Only if you delete the one of me with the marshmallows."

"Never."

"Fine, then I'm keeping it."

"Fine," Emma said. 

Robin backed around the corner in time for her to stalk out of the study, every single hair on her head standing straight out. He couldn't help but choke back a laugh, but Emma heard and whirled around. 

"Not a word," she said.

"Balance!" Regina called from the study.

****

Robin knew the second he came in the door that tonight was a paperwork night. The first clue was the lack of noise. This house might have been quiet back when it was just Regina and Henry, but with six people, quiet was a distant memory.

The second was that Roland was sitting in the living room, enraptured by the movie about the cute but destructive alien that becomes friends with the cute but destructive little girl. Regina had strict rules about TV, namely that it was a treat and a corporate activity--which meant that very rarely did anyone watch it by themselves (except Emma, but she had her own TV in her room). The exceptions were paperwork nights.

Regina, Emma, and Henry were crammed at the kitchen table--Regina had a stack of files from the office, Emma had a number of case files and reports she was evidently trying to catch up on, and Henry looked like he was researching for a school project.

"What's another word for 'he was being an asshole'?" Emma said.

"Belligerent," Henry supplied, without looking up from his books.

"That's good," Emma said, scribbling a note down on her current report.

Regina sighed and spotted Robin in the doorway. She smiled. "Oh, good, you're home." She got up from her chair and came over, giving him a kiss.

"Miss me?" Robin said. 

"Mm hmm," she said. "Did you eat already?"

Robin shook his head. "I got called out to help John with a dispute over at the Smith farm. They accused some of the men of stealing from them--there's some bad blood there from before when they actually _were_ stealing from them, so it took a while to sort out." He looked over the mounds of paperwork. "I think my night looks like more fun."

"Definitely," Emma said, rolling her neck.

"There's a plate in the fridge for you," Regina said. "I have to get these reports read tonight--"

"Say no more," Robin said. He opened the fridge and found the plate and stuck it in the microwave--remembering to take the foil off this time before heating it and sitting down at the counter. 

"And done," Emma announced, flipping her final report closed with a flourish. "Hand it over," she said, stretching out a hand to Henry.

Henry dug through his bag and pulled out a folder. "You can't say anything until you finish it," he said. 

"Yeah, yeah," Emma said. She opened the folder and pulled out a thin stack of papers, beginning to read.

"New story?" Robin asked.

Henry nodded. "Just finished it today. Mom said Ma couldn't read it until she got her homework done." He snickered.

"If Emma wrote her reports when she was supposed to, I wouldn't need to get involved."

"Shh," Emma said. "I'm trying to read, here."

Robin finished his plate, rinsing it and putting it in the dishwasher before going back out to the living room. Roland's movie was over, the credits rolling, and Roland was obviously fighting off sleep.

"Come on," he said. "Time to go to bed." He hefted Roland into his arm and took him upstairs to bed--it didn't take long for Roland to drift off, and Robin spent a few minutes just looking at his children breathe softly, wondering at how lucky he was, before going back downstairs and sitting back down at the counter to listen to Emma and Henry discuss his story.

"No, I liked it, but I just don't know why George chose to go with them."

"He wanted to belong to something," Henry said.

Emma frowned. "But he had a family. He had friends. He already belonged."

"He didn't feel like it, though." Henry flipped through his pages. "See?" He pointed to something on the page.

"Okay, I see that you _said_ that, but I still don't know _why_ he thinks that."

Henry frowned at the page, a mirror image of Emma. "Huh, I guess I need to…" he trailed off, grabbing a pen and making notes on the page.

Emma stood and stretched, and then stopped short. "Hey, kid. You don't feel like that, right?"

Regina's steady writing paused. 

Henry blinked. "What? Oh, no," he said. "Between you, Mom, Robin, my--Roland and Claire, my grandparents, and the rest of the town, I've got _plenty_ of belonging."

Emma shoved her hands into her pockets. "Okay. Good."

Henry beamed at her, and she grinned back. 

****

_Does anyone know how many of these damn things there are?_ Emma's voice came through the walkie loud if not particularly clear.

Robin kept running as he nocked another arrow to his bow. Beside him, David used his free hand to respond. "I counted twelve. We've taken care of all but five."

_Great. Only five left. No sweat._ The walkie crackled with static. _Okay, let's get them to the bridge like we planned._

Behind them came a growling, their only warning before three of the mangy hyenas that had somehow appeared in the middle of the forest in Maine barreled out of the underbrush, their jaws wide.

Robin turned and took a shot, taking the one in the lead down. David dispatched the next swiftly with his sword. The third raced past them both, but Robin had already readied another arrow. He loosed it, the arrow sinking deep into the leg, and the hyena stumbled. David caught up killed it quickly.

"Where are the other two?" she said.

Robin scanned the forest. It was quiet. "Emma," he said. They started running, crashing through the brush and toward the creek.

_Okay, I'm here, just need--_ Emma's voice cut off with an indecipherable shout. Ahead of them, a shot rang out. Robin put on extra speed, fearing they were already too late.

When they reached the clearing, one hyena lay on the ground, clearly dead, and the other circled Emma, who was holding her arm, her gun on the ground just off to the side. David started to move forward, but Robin put out a hand before nocking another arrow.

He wasn't sure Emma saw him, but she was keeping her eyes on the hyena as it circled, moving herself to face it. Robin kept his breathing even and waited for the right moment--the hyena tensed and Robin let the arrow fly.

The arrow buried itself in the hyena's side and the beast crumpled before it could complete its leap. Robin and David were moving again, crossing the shallow creek with no difficulty. David checked the beasts to make sure they were dead and Robin pulled Emma toward him, checking the wound on her arm. She had a pretty good bite mark and a couple of scratches, but there didn't seem to be any deep damage.

Emma laughed shakily. "Next time, I keep you with me. David can be the damsel in distress."

"I do look stunning in a dress," David said, moving past them toward the road.

Emma smiled, and then looked down. Robin was still holding Emma's arm, his thumb brushing along her skin. 

"You should get that checked out," Robin said. 

"What--oh, yeah." Emma took hold of her arm with her other hand, wincing. "I hope those weren't werehyenas or something."

"Probably not," Robin said. He frowned back at the corpses. "I don't think they were big enough."

Emma laughed and then furrowed her brow. "That's not actually a thing, right?"

Robin shrugged and turned back to the road. "Haven't heard of werehyenas in a long time," he said. "Werewolves, sure. I met a werecat once. Werecoyote, I heard of one of those down south."

"You're pulling my leg."

"Oh! There was a weredauchund in a tiny little hamlet that had the cutest ears."

"You're not funny."

****

It was August before Regina and Robin realized they needed to have a talk. 

"So I'm taking Roland in the mornings, and you've got Claire, and Emma's going to switch off shifts so she can pick up Roland after preschool and take him to daycare until I'm done," Regina said, pinching her nose. 

"Right," Robin said. "How in the world is scheduling this difficult?"

"Imagine doing this with just the two of us," Regina said dryly. "Actually, it would be worse, because Henry would be going back and forth with Emma all the time."

Robin groaned. "I can't even imagine."

"Me neither," Regina said, her tone shifting from exhaustion to something more thoughtful. 

"What is it?" Robin asked.

Regina shook her head. "Just thinking about how strange our lives are. The former Evil Queen and her boyfriend living with the Savior who broke her curse. Not to mention their three kids whose parentage is its own tangled mess."

Robin laughed. "When you put it that way, it sounds like all three of us are lovers."

Regina let out a huff of laughter. "That's just what we need," she said. "Although I suspect there are rumors about it already."

"Well, some of us _are_ rather attractive," Robin said, moving to take Regina into his arms. 

Regina nodded, not quite managing to hide her smile. "You're right--Emma is beautiful."

"Should I be jealous?" Robin said, tightening his grip. He was still mostly joking, but Regina must have seen something in his expression, because she turned serious.

"Do you think you should be?" Regina asked. 

Robin considered the question. "I… don't know," he said, suddenly thinking about the past few months from an entirely different perspective. He knew nothing had happened between Emma and Regina, but he had also seen the way they looked at each other, the way they anticipated each other, the way they touched each other or avoided touching each other. And it was really clear now that it wasn't nothing. He wasn't sure what it was, but it wasn't nothing.

Regina bit her lip. "Robin?"

The funny thing was, Robin felt like he should be upset, but he wasn't. He kept thinking about Emma--about how they trusted each other on the job, how her hair looked when she just woke up or how she smiled after a run or how she held Claire or read to Roland with all the voices. 

He looked at Regina and said, "Huh."

"Huh?" Regina repeated.

"I think… I think we're in love with Emma," Robin said, slowly. 

"What?" Regina said, moving out of Robin's arms.

"You said it yourself--about our lives being complicated. And they are, and we can say it's easier to schedule everything with Emma here, but the truth is that most people figure this stuff out without actually having the other parent living with them."

Regina blinked. "Well, but--"

"And I like it. And you like it."

"But--" Regina trailed off, lost in her own thoughts. 

Robin waited.

A few minutes passed, Regina slowly growing paler until she said, "Oh my god."

****

After that, things got more complicated. Robin and Regina started having hushed conversations with each other about every interaction with Emma, unsure of what to do--if anything--and unsure about how they both felt about the whole thing.

It got to the point where Henry and Emma were both giving them weird looks anytime they opened their mouths, and Robin finally reached the end of his rope about two weeks later.

"We need to talk about this. We're going away for the weekend," he said. "Just the two of us."

"Do you really think that will help?" Regina said.

"It can't possibly hurt," Robin said. Regina opened her mouth as if to argue but then closed it and nodded.

They made arrangements for the kids to go to Mary Margaret and David's place for the weekend--giving Emma a break, too--and then they booked a room at Storybrooke's newest bed and breakfast--an innkeeper who had missed her old life had finally remodeled her house. She was doing a pretty brisk business seeing as she was the only place with rooms that wasn't Granny's. 

They settled in, a little more uneasy than either of them liked. Robin cleared his throat. "First things first, we should talk about us. About how we feel about us."

"Us… is good. Right?" Regina said, a note of doubt creeping in.

"Us is very good," Robin assured her. "I don't see why that should change." He reached over and took Regina's hands in his. "I love you."

Regina let out a breath. "I love you, too."

"I don't want anything that would jeopardize what we have."

"Of course not," Regina said, firmly. "So… that settles that."

Robin hesitated.

"Doesn't it?" Regina said, and it was half question and half warning.

"Just... hear me out," Robin said, holding up a hand. "I think we better talk about this now before it causes more problems later on. And I don't think either of us need to worry."

"You don't." Regina's fingers dug into the arm of her chair.

Robin smiled. "Well, I know you don't need to worry about me, and I'm not worried about you, so…"

"I'm worried," Regina said. "I don't--I'm not worried about either of us… acting without the other, but I'm worried about changing something and then it not working, or not changing something and having what we have fall apart. With you and… with Emma."

Robin let out a breath. "Okay, I'm worried about that, too." He leaned forward. "I like what we have, but now that I know how I feel, how we feel, I can't stop seeing it, and I'm second-guessing everything I say to Emma. I think trying to keep things the same isn't going to work, not long-term, because where we are right now isn't sustainable."

Regina stood up and paced across the room. She looked out the window. Robin waited, letting her think. Finally, she turned back. "You're right," she said. She sat down across from him again, letting her head fall into her hands. "How could I let this happen?"

"It doesn't matter how it happened. I didn't see it, either." He laughed. "And I was watching the whole time."

"I spent so much time worrying about how Emma was doing, how it was working for her, how glad Henry was to have her around--" Regina looked up, pale and shaky, "Oh my god. How will she feel about this? We can't possibly tell her. We can't possibly not tell her."

"We have to pick one or the other," Robin pointed out in what he hoped was a reasonable tone of voice.

Regina shot out of the chair. "She can't feel the same way. It would be absurd."

"But you and I feeling the same way isn't?"

"That's--we're soulmates." She winced as she said it. 

"Can soulmates come in threes?" Robin mused.

"Do I look like an expert?"

"You're the only other soulmate I know," Robin quipped. Regina laughed, a little, and Robin continued. "Look, I don't know how Emma feels, but I do think that she's been happy so far, right? So why don't we just… relax. Take it as it comes. Keep our eyes open and maybe let her know--"

"What, that we accidentally fell in love with her and want to keep her? She'll run. _I'd_ run."

"If we tell her like that she will. I just meant that we could act like we want to act. Show her that we care about her. Not worry too much about how we're saying things or if she could take them the wrong way."

"Or the right way?"

"Or the right way," Robin agreed.

"I'd prefer a more concrete strategy," Regina said. "Lists and diversions and codenames."

"We could use a codename if it would make you feel better," Robin said. He pulled Regina down into his lap. "Something about birds. I know--Operation Eyrie."

Regina laughed helplessly. 

****

They agreed to rules. No direct declarations (for now). No kissing (or sex). No involving children in any way, shape, or form (which included not using the codename around Henry). No one else was to know.

Things went back to more or less normal. It was easier than they'd thought--school took up so much time, and then there were parent-teacher conferences, and after-school clubs, and unlike Henry, Roland actually seemed to want to play sports, so there were soccer practices and games. 

Claire was also turning into a handful, walking and climbing to the point where one weekend they were all on emergency baby-proofing duty. Robin was in charge of moving pieces of furniture, and Regina and Emma were doing their best to corral Claire while putting items away.

"Henry never climbed this much," Regina said as Emma pulled Claire down from yet another bookcase. Robin was maneuvering its twin--already empty--into the hall so he and Emma could take it down to the basement later.

"She learned it from Roland," Emma said, sweeping a few more books onto a higher shelf as Regina took away a vase that was apparently now within reach to set it in a cupboard for a year or two.

In Emma's arms, Claire pouted as the enticing objects were put away and out of sight. Emma tickled her and she squirmed to get down. Emma set her on the floor and Claire looked up again immediately, her arms raised.

"Up!" she commanded, and Emma obliged, swinging Claire around in a half-circle and making her giggle.

"You're a tyrant," Emma growled. Claire just giggled more, burrowing her head into Emma's shoulder.

Robin stopped in the doorway to watch. Regina's expression was soft as she watched the two of them spin and giggle. After a particularly fast spin, Emma caught Regina's eye and stopped.

"What?" she said, self-consciously tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ears. Claire squirmed again and Emma let her down. She raced over to play with some of her toys.

"You're a natural with her," Regina said.

Emma blushed. "Well, between her and Neal, it was sink or swim. And I didn't want to--I had so many disappointing people in my life growing up, people who didn't know how to relate to kids at all."

She didn't say _I didn't want to be one of them_ , but then she didn't have to.

"Emma," Regina said. She reached out and touched Emma's arm. Emma looked at her hand, her body still for a moment before she smiled.

"Hey, I wasn't--that wasn't about you," she said, softly.

"Oh," Regina said, blinking. "I didn't even think about--" she dropped her hand from Emma's arm.

Emma reached forward and caught it in hers. "No, wait, I'm sorry. I assumed. I'm just tired of everyone apologizing for what's done." She laughed. "I'm glad you weren't thinking about that just now."

Regina looked at their hands, Emma's fingers entwined with hers. She said, "I was just thinking how much we've both changed. You've come a long way from the commitment-phobe who changed her mind a dozen times about staying around."

Emma narrowed her eyes. "And you've come a long way from the mayor who tried to run me out of town by threatening me with a fruit basket."

Regina smiled. "Not to mention the Evil Queen."

"I hear she was a real bitch," Emma said, low and leaning in and Robin couldn't believe it, but Emma was flirting with Regina in front of him, and Regina was leaning in, and he was so conflicted about their rules because he wanted to see what would happen--

"Da!" Claire called. "Play!"

Regina and Emma broke apart, identical guilty expressions on their faces. Robin walked by them toward his daughter, brushing his hand on Regina's back--not possessively, just reassuring her that he was there, that she was fine--and when he passed Emma, he let his fingers brush hers in a way that could have been an accident. He smiled at her and went to play with his daughter.

****

Emma wasn't stupid, and she was beginning to suspect something was up. She kept giving them looks, or saying things to push their buttons and kept getting frustrated when the punches didn't land--like the week where she ate out every night and Regina had just smiled and said she could take the leftovers that had been set aside for lunch tomorrow. (That strategy had met its end on Saturday after Emma found out Regina was making a pot roast.) Or how Emma's shoes suddenly seemed to be everywhere--a plan which backfired as Emma managed to trip over one of them when she came home after a late-night call, waking the entire house and ending up flat on her back in the entryway.

There was a span of four days where Emma basically didn't let Robin out of her sight, as if she could stalk him into revealing something--all that did was convince Robin that she wasn't entirely indifferent to him, since he caught her staring at his backside more than a few times.

It was honestly kind of adorable. 

Her latest tactic was to get in Regina's way as she cooked as much as humanly possible--a tactic that might have worked except Regina had figured out how to turn it around on her.

Regina was making… something complicated, and Emma was sitting on the counter, sipping juice and watching her. Robin watched them both surreptitiously from the kitchen table where he had been pretending to read the paper for the last fifteen minutes.

"Emma, please get off my counter."

"Why?" Emma said, taking another sip of juice. Regina narrowed her eyes. Instead of repeating herself, she put a hand on Emma's thigh--Emma stiffened immediately--and reached over Emma into the cupboard, her body pressing towards Emma's. She took a bit longer than necessary and kind of… slid down Emma's body until she was standing flat-footed on the floor, still leaning in between Emma's legs. 

"Honestly," Regina said, "you have no manners at all." She patted Emma's leg gently and took the cookie sheet back to the other side of the kitchen.

Emma sat stiff as a board for another minute, and then hopped off the counter. "I'm gonna go--" she jerked a thumb toward the door and practically ran out.

Robin waited until he heard Emma's door close before getting up and positioning himself behind Regina. He wrapped his arms around her waist and put his chin on her shoulder. "You're cruel."

Regina shrugged. "She's asking for it." She turned in his arms. "She is actually driving me crazy," she admitted. "I just want to tell her."

"Me, too," Robin said. "But I don't think she's ready yet."

****

As fall ended and winter began, things got still more hectic. It seemed like Henry had some kind of school program every week, and Roland wasn't far behind. To top it all off, a group of misguided witches tried to stage a revolt. Their plan involved kidnapping Archie and attempting to torture out secrets about the rest of the town.

Archie, however, was made of stronger stuff than they'd counted on, and Henry had noticed that Archie wasn't where he usually was on Thursdays (his therapy appointment, but that wasn't going in the report). With Henry's tip, Emma and Regina together made short work of the entire plot. Even so, there had been more than the usual amount of property damage, and there had been a lot of overtime for the Sheriff and her deputies for a few weeks, ending just before Thanksgiving.

Because last year's Thanksgiving had been subdued due to dealing with Dark Ones and the fallout from their trip to the Underworld, Mary Margaret had thrown herself into this year's and had every spare inch of the loft filled with groaning tables and people sitting shoulder to shoulder.

There wasn't anywhere to escape and the environment was a bit much for Roland and Claire, so Robin and Regina kept their visit fairly short, leaving Emma and Henry behind to spend time with Mary Margaret, David, and Neal.

When they came home, Emma found both of them and sheepishly asked if they could talk for a minute.

"Of course," Robin said. Regina put aside her book.

"So… Mary Margaret and David just let me know she's pregnant again," Emma began. 

"Oh. That's… good?" Regina said, putting her hand on Robin's arm.

"It's fine--no, it's good. They're really happy."

"I bet," Regina muttered. There was no real vitriol in it, and Emma and Robin both smiled.

Emma said, "Anyway, it was pretty crowded over there today, and we were talking about the new baby, and about them needing more room, and I… kinda offered them my house."

"Okay," Regina said slowly. 

"And I didn't even think about it until I was driving back ho--here, but I probably should've given it a bit more thought. I mean, I realized I'd never really talked with you about how long I was staying or with Henry about what he wanted, but I honestly don't think I could live there again anyway, and maybe they'd trade for the loft--"

Robin held up a hand, and Emma fell silent. He looked at Regina, who nodded to him, and he turned back to Emma. "Emma, you're welcome here as long as you like." Beside him, Regina nodded, her fingers tightening on his arm. "And it's your house to give them if you want."

Emma looked stunned.

"You should check with someone about taxes, though," Regina suggested. Both of them swung to look at her.

"Really?" Robin said. "That's your contribution?"

"What? We might be a community of fairy-tale characters displaced by a Dark Curse, but we still have to pay taxes," Regina said. 

"Dark Curse indeed," Emma muttered. 

"Emma," Regina said, leaning forward, "I honestly wouldn't blame you if you wanted your own space, but… we've grown accustomed to having you here. With us."

It was the closest they'd come so far to what they wanted to say. Emma blinked rapidly for a moment and then said, "Okay. Okay." She looked away and then said in a rush, "I've gotten used to being here."

After a charged moment, Robin said, "Good. Now that that's settled, I could use your help with the patrol schedule sometime tonight."

"Sure," Emma said, sounding more than a little distracted. "That would be good."

She got up and said, "Uh… thanks," and wandered out of the study, turning at the door as if to say something else but then turning back and leaving, shaking her head.

Regina turned toward Robin, her eyes reflecting the same hope he felt. 

****

Christmas was nearly upon them before they came up with The Plan. 

Well, it wasn't so much a plan as it was a maneuver. And they didn't come up with it so much as Roland did--he'd gotten Henry to explain about mistletoe and kisses and thought the whole thing was hilarious. They'd hung a small plant in the doorway to the dining room since no one went in there anyway, and Roland had taken to "hiding" under the table so whoever came to get him would have to give him kisses--and everyone obliged him.

The only problem was that this year, they planned a large, elaborate party, inviting half the town--and they forgot to take down the mistletoe the night of. The expression on David's face when he noticed that he'd been standing underneath the plant for at least five minutes while chatting with Regina had been priceless, but his awkward kiss on her cheek had broken the ice. After that, everyone had genially given kisses on cheeks or hands and even on lips, and maybe it hadn't been such a bad idea after all.

Hours later, the night was running smoothly if slightly smaller. Everyone still there was in the living room but the three of them were doing a quick check on the tables to see if anything else was needed. Robin was bringing in another bottle of wine just as Emma was leaving, and they were waylaid by a knot of children playing a rambunctious game of tag.

Roland, passing with the group, laughed and said, "Kiss! Kiss!"

Emma looked up at the same time Robin did, and she laughed but shook her head, making to walk around Robin.

Robin moved with her, not quite blocking her but making her pause. "But you haven't given me a kiss," he said.

Emma laughed again, the sound a little forced.

"Regina!" Robin called. "Emma doesn't want to kiss me."

"He's your boyfriend!" Emma said.

Regina looked over and said, "Emma Swan, it's tradition!" 

Emma's brow furrowed, but before she could move away or say something else, Robin put his free hand on her cheek. She raised her gaze to him, her eyes wide, and he leaned in to give her a kiss. He didn't demand anything, just pressed his lips to hers softly, inviting her to kiss him back and when she did, just a little, he pulled back. Emma's eyes were closed for a brief second before they opened in a panic.

Regina came over, and Robin grinned at her. "Jealous?"

"A little," Regina said.

"Regina--" Emma squeaked, but Regina was already moving, one hand around Emma's waist and the other behind her neck. She moved her weight forward to put Emma off-balance and Emma's arms came around Regina to keep herself from falling backwards into the punch bowl.

Regina kissed with an abandon that Robin was intimately familiar with, and Emma responded, despite her obvious panic, despite the fact that anyone could walk in and see this. She kissed Regina back and Robin grinned.

Regina ended the kiss slowly, lingering as if to keep Emma from thinking it was mere impulse that drove her. She pulled back and used a finger to wipe off a smudge of lipstick from Emma's lips. Emma's eyes were glued to Regina, and Regina smiled, stepped back, and said, "Merry Christmas, Emma."

As she walked through the door, she pulled Robin down for a kiss, too. He obliged but didn't follow her right away when she broke off. Instead, he checked on Emma, still standing where Regina had left her, her fingers on her lips. Robin smiled and shrugged at her before ducking through the doorway himself.

****

Robin didn't see Emma the rest of the night. Their last guests left just after midnight, and Robin saw them out while Regina got started on the cleanup. After the door was closed behind them, Robin found Regina in the kitchen and wrapped his arms around her. "Let's leave the rest for tomorrow," he said.

"I never thought so many of them would come," Regina said. Her tone manage to convey both her exhaustion and her wonder that people appeared to like her.

Robin kissed her neck and then behind her ear. He was just about to aim for her lips when she stiffened and pushed him away. 

"Emma," she said. "Where is she?"

"I haven't seen her since--"

Regina was already out of the kitchen. Robin followed her upstairs. Emma's light was still on, and Regina knocked softly at her door.

"Emma?" Regina kept her voice low.

"Yeah?"

"Can we come in?"

For a moment, Robin thought she was going to say no, but instead she opened the door, her expression tight. "Yeah, I think you better," she said.

They came in, and Emma shut the door behind them. Regina took a seat on Emma's bed next to an empty duffel bag, and Robin sat down next to her. 

"Why don't you sit down, Emma?" Regina said.

Emma folded her arm and remained standing. "What the hell are you two playing at?"

Robin gave Regina a look, and she motioned as if to say "It's all yours."

"We're not playing at anything." Robin remained calm. Something about Emma right now made him think of a cornered animal, lashing out because it couldn't see any other options.

"Oh? Then please explain to me exactly what you thought you were doing tonight. Hell, explain to me what you've been doing the last few weeks, because I honestly can't understand how you think this was appropriate, let alone how I apparently went along with--with--whatever this is!"

"'Appropriate,'" Regina mused. "I'm not sure I'd classify what we've been doing as 'appropriate.'"

"I sure as hell wouldn't," Emma said. "I had half a mind to pack up and leave tonight."

Robin said, "Emma, what exactly do you think is going on?"

"I," Emma started, and then paused. She pointed a finger at them. "I--" she halted again and then said, her posture crumpling, "I have no idea."

"Emma, please sit down," Regina said. She got up and pulled the chair over by the bed, and Emma sat, her expression still tight but her eyes full of emotion.

"First of all, tonight was not some kind of practical joke," Robin said. "I've wanted to kiss you for quite some time."

Eyes wide, Emma flashed a look at Regina, who smiled, slow and lazy. "I've wanted to kiss you at least as long as he has," she said. Ignoring the sound Emma made, which was almost a squeak, she said, "And both of us already knew about that, so stop thinking you're ruining our relationship."

"But you're--"

"We're seducing you," Regina said. 

"Regina!" Robin said.

"What?" Regina shrugged. "I think that should be fairly obvious by now, don't you?"

"You're… seducing me?" Emma said, gaping at the two of them. "As in, both of you want to, what, have a threesome?" Her voice rose on the question shrilly. 

Regina opened her mouth, but Robin beat her to it this time. "We both want to… amend our relationship. The whole thing. To include you."

Emma opened her mouth, then closed it. Then opened it. Then closed it, then made a choking sound in her throat before rasping out, "You're crazy. Both of you."

Robin laughed. Regina said, "Probably."

"And you--you _planned_ this?" Emma said. "How--how long have you been planning this?"

Robin rubbed his neck. "Uh… about four months."

"Four months?!"

"Well, actually, it was only three," Regina said. "We spent about a month trying to wrap our minds around how we both felt before we actually started planning anything."

Emma laughed. "Oh, well, if it was only three months, then that's much more understandable. Right, nothing crazy about trying to seduce the woman you have living in your home into a threesome for _three months_."

"Oh, but living with your son, his adopted mother, her boyfriend, and their two children--one of whom is technically her niece--is so normal?" Regina snapped. "We're a long way past conventional solutions, so excuse us for thinking outside the box."

Emma looked taken aback. Robin took Regina's hand, recognizing the underlying fear that made her lash out. She gripped his hand tightly.

"Perhaps we should take a step back," Robin said. "Emma, Regina and I both have come to care deeply for you." He felt Regina's eyes on him but kept his eyes on Emma as he continued. "When we first realized just how much, we were very confused."

Emma laughed, but it wasn't quite as hysterical as before. "I can relate," she said.

"When we talked about it, we realized that we had two choices: cut whatever this was off, or explore it, and… we wanted to explore it, but we weren't sure you did." Robin took a breath. Emma was listening, though there were too many emotions playing across her face to sort through. "So we decided not to say anything right away. We tried to… we didn't want to scare you away before we had a chance to see if you might feel the same way."

"You--you thought I might feel the same way?" Emma said, incredulous.

Regina bristled, and Robin put a hand over Regina's in a silent plea to let him respond. "We hoped."

Emma's gaze darted between them. "And if I did… how would this even work?"

Robin said, "We'd have to figure that out. Together."

"Together--as in, all three of us."

"Obviously," Regina said. 

Emma's mouth twitched. "I would have thought you had a contract already made up with terms and conditions."

"Only a rough draft," Regina said. She held Emma's gaze, and Emma's mouth twitched again into a smile, and slowly Regina's lips turned up. She disentangled her hand from Robin's and leaned forward, capturing Emma's hands in hers. "Emma," she said, her voice breaking a little. "This is crazy, I know. And if you need time to think about it, we'll give it to you."

Emma stared at their entwined hands. "The only thing more logical than thinking long and hard about what the hell I was getting into would be not entertaining this insanity at all." She looked up at them and said, "So of course I'm going to do the opposite." She surged forward and kissed Regina, their lips crashing together, wild and unbalanced. Robin had been expecting something a little more like the kiss under the mistletoe, something passionate but controlled, but then Emma giggled into Regina's lips, and then Regina cracked, too, turning her head and laughing into Emma's shoulder.

"Wait," Robin said, "is this a good thing?"

They looked up at each other, and then both of them reached out and took one of his hands, pulling him to them.

****

"So… this is a date," Emma said, standing awkwardly in the doorway to the living room.

"That was the plan, yes," Regina said. She smoothed down her dress--a blue one with a very high slit that Robin really appreciated. 

"Okay," Emma said. "It's not that I don't want to--I mean, it's been a week and--but don't you generally _ask_ people to go on dates?"

"Oh, please," Regina said. "If we had asked, you would have worried about it all week. This way is better. The kids are already at the Charmings', and you have five minutes to get dressed."

"Five minutes! Regina, it took you at least a half-hour to do your hair alone."

Regina smiled. "I'm glad you noticed."

"Your hair looks fine, Emma," Robin said. 

"But--"

"Four minutes."

Emma dashed up the stairs. "I don't even know what I should wear!"

"You didn't actually set out an outfit for her, right?" Robin said. Regina had mentioned it as a possibility, but Robin was pretty sure she was joking.

"No," Regina said. "I might have rearranged her closet a bit," she admitted. She checked the clock and then yelled upstairs, "One minute!"

A wordless yell was Emma's only response, but one and a half minutes later, she stalked back downstairs in a pair of dark, crisp jeans and a low-cut, sleeveless blouse that was just opaque enough to tantalize the imagination. She had on a pair of short boots and a black jacket slung over her shoulder.

"Well done," Regina said. 

Emma glared at her. "Don't think I don't know you messed with my closet," she said. "Where are we going, anyway?"

"Gustav's," Robin said. 

Emma raised an eyebrow. Gustav's was one of two places in Storybrooke that you really only went to dinner if you were on a date. "That's… going to raise some eyebrows."

"Like we haven't been raising eyebrows for a year already," Regina said, and it might have sounded scathing except her voice wavered. 

"I just meant--are you sure?" Emma said.

Regina squared her shoulders and lifted her chin. "I am not going to Granny's so we can pretend this isn't what it is."

"Robin?" Emma said.

"Oh, I'd say we should begin as we mean to go on," Robin replied. "Besides, I'd bet you that most people won't believe it unless we--publicly demonstrate our affection."

Emma snorted. "You mean unless we cleared the table during dinner and went at it right there."

Robin smiled. "Exactly."

Emma took a breath. "Okay. Let's go."

Some people in Gustav's did give them an odd look or two at first, but it was hard to pay attention to them once their own conversation got rolling--somewhere in between the soft, yeasty bread and the crisp salad. Robin and Regina had been here before, of course, so Robin was able to relax instead of wondering what he was supposed to do next. Dating in this realm was a little different than back home--but most of the confusing stuff was surface-level. Getting to know someone was largely a matter of time, conversation, and that undefinable connection that suggested the time and conversation would worth it.

By unspoken agreement, they tried not to talk about the kids too much, instead talking about movies that they had seen, books that Regina was making Robin read, or the gossip that fueled small-town life.

And they flirted, gently, testing out each other's reactions. Regina and Emma slung quips back and forth and smiled more the later it got. Robin and Regina sat close together and gave each other fleeting touches. Emma and Robin thought up terrible bird puns that they traded all night, and the more ridiculous they were, the more pained Regina's expression, the more heated their glances became.

When they were back in the car and driving home, Regina said, "I cannot believe you two actually find this childish humor attractive."

"I egret nothing," Robin said.

Emma laughed until they got home. When they were back inside, Regina turned to them both with her hands on her hips. "Raven lunatics."

Afterward, none of them could agree who reacted first, but within seconds Regina was pinned to the wall, the slit in her dress put to very good use, and everyone's mouths were occupied in ways that could never be described as childish.

****

They had to tell Henry, of course--Regina handled that one and left out everything she possibly could. Henry wasn't stupid; he went pale halfway through the whole talk and said, "Oh, uh, oh--" and wandered off without saying another word. He finally spoke up later that night and managed to convey that he was fine with it but never wanted to think about it again, thank you very much.

They figured Roland and Claire were too young to understand the nuances of the relationship change, so they agreed to tackle that one if and when it came up.

They didn't bother telling anyone else. They'd figure it out eventually.


End file.
